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Bolton Parish Church
St Peter, Bolton-le-Moors
Parish News
November 2017
50 p
I was a stranger and you welcomed me…
Asked what was the greatest Commandment, Jesus replied Love the
Lord your God with all your might, and love your neighbour as you
love yourself. Welcoming, not just those known to us but also the
strangers in our midst is a mark of Christian commitment and
Christian love.
For us here in Bolton, there are many opportunities to offer welcome.
Bolton is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society; the University attracts
students of many nationalities, the NHS draws in workers from many
parts of the world, and the town hosts many asylum seekers and
refugees seeking to escape troubles at home and find security and
hope for themselves and their families.
I guess most of us who make up the Body of Christ at the Parish
Church have arrived as strangers in one way or another – moving to
the town from elsewhere in the country for work or family reasons,
attracted to our particular churchmanship and style of worship,
wanting to get married, or to bring children to Sunday School,
looking for a new church because they have fallen out with some
aspect of their old one, or because their church has closed… Certainly
for the clergy, being licensed to each new post means repeatedly
arriving as a stranger, and hoping to become welcome.
Imagine how much harder it is for those who have travelled not only
across a city or even a country, but across mountains and oceans, and
across international borders. As a town-centre church we have been
enriched in recent years by the arrival of individuals and families
from a number of different countries, including Poland, Iraq, Syria
and the Congo, who come to worship with us, some for a few weeks,
some for much longer.
One of those whom many of you have greeted and made welcome in
recent weeks, is Sudanese pastor Paul Elbshit. Paul is a Missionary
Pastor, ordained and licensed by the African Inland Church, and has
been led by the Holy Spirit to come and minister to his Christian
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brothers and sisters in this place. Brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ
who are passionate about their faith and, whilst living in England
and learning to speak English, long to worship God fully in their own
language.
Supported by a number of prominent members of the Sudanese
community living in this area, including licensed Reader Peter of the
Seven Saints Team Ministry (led until a year ago by Judie Horrock’s
husband, Bob) Pastor Paul’s prayer was to find a church where
regular services could be established for an Arabic-speaking
congregation (Arabic being the common language understood by
many in north-eastern Africa.)
After some conversations, involving myself, the Church Wardens and
the Archdeacon, it was a delight that the first such service took place
in this Parish Church on the afternoon of Sunday, 25th October.
Word had spread far and near, and the head-count for the
attendance that afternoon came to 52 adults and 22 children. The
majority were Sudanese, joined by a few Syrians, Libyans and
Iranians plus half-a-dozen from our own congregation; there was no
disguising the joy of the worship, the authenticity of the
unaccompanied hymn-singing and the deep appreciation of the
hospitality each one encountered as they walked through the
doorway into church.
A joy and a welcome, I am confident, you too will find if you make
the time to do the same now and then. Bible Readings and sermon
will be translated into English for those, like me, who don’t know a
word of Arabic, and it surely can do us no harm to be, for a change,
in the position of being the ones who understand only naively and
partially.
I was a stranger and you welcomed me… Truly, said Jesus,
whatever you did for one of these, you did it for me.
In the love of the living Christ, Moira
November Calendar
1 Wednesday ALL SAINTS DAY
2 Thursday Commemoration of the Faithful Departed (All Souls’ Day)
12.15 Holy Communion
5 Sunday Fourth Sunday before Advent
8.00 Holy Communion
10.30 Parish Communion (BCP)
19.30 Concert by Bolton Choral Union (details on page 22)
7 Tuesday Willibrord of York, Bishop, Apostle of Frisia, 739
12.15 Holy Communion
14.00 Mothers’ Union, Lower Hall
9 Thursday Margery Kempe, Mystic, c. 1440
12.15 Holy Communion
12 Sunday Third Sunday before Advent
8.00 Holy Communion
10.30 Parish Communion
18.30 Evening Prayer with hymns
14 Tuesday Samuel Seabury, first Anglican Bishop in North America, 1796
12.15 Holy Communion
16 Thursday Margaret, Queen of Scotland, Philanthropist, Reformer of the
Church, 1093
12.15 Holy Communion
19 Sunday Second Sunday before Advent
8.00 Holy Communion
10.30 Parish Communion (BCP)
18.30 Evening Prayer
21 Tuesday 12.15 Holy Communion
19.30 Bolton Deanery Confirmation service at Christ Church, Heaton
23 Thursday Clement, Bishop of Rome, Martyr, c. 100
12.15 Holy Communion
26 Sunday CHRIST THE KING, Sunday next before Advent
8.00 Holy Communion
10.30 Parish Communion
18.30 Choral Evensong
28 Tuesday 12.15 Holy Communion
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Bolton Deanery Confirmation
The Deanery Confirmation service led by the Bishop of Bolton, this year at Christ Church, Heaton, is on Tuesday, 21st November beginning at 7.30p.m. Seven candidates from Year 6 at Bishop Bridgeman, and one from Year 7 at Turton School will be among those presented by this church.
Please pray for these young people as they prepare for this big step on their Christian journey, and that the faith into which they will be confirmed may grow and develop and mature through their lives.
Braydon Heyes Martina Knott
Lincoln Darcy Bragan Sutcliffe
Jemma Gill Jennifer Bongue
Ella Luccarini Jemma Steven
And if you are able, do please come and support them on 21st November.
The closing date for applications for the post of incumbent for the joint
benefice of St Peter with St Philip, Bolton-le-Moors has now passed.
An interview date has been set for mid-November. Even if an
appointment is made then, there will not be an announcement for
several more weeks while background checks etc. take place. So we
shall need to be patient for a little longer.
Christ the King
26 November
Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ. Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father. When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man, thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb. When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers. Thou sittest at the right hand of God in the glory of the Father.
Poppies
When Moina Michael, an American War Secretary with the YMCA, read
John McCrae’s poem In Flanders’ Fields, it moved her to buy poppies with
money collected from her work colleagues and sell them to friends to raise
funds for ex-Servicemen. Her French colleague, Anna Guérin, suggested
the sale of artificial poppies to the British Legion in August 1921 in order to
help the ex-Service community in Britain. The first donations for artificial
poppies were given in Britain on 11 November 1921, raising £106,000
(equivalent of approx. £3.1 million today).
Major George Howson, a young infantry officer and engineer who had
served on the western front, had formed the Disabled Society to help
disabled ex-Servicemen and women from World War One. He suggested to
the British Legion that Society members should make poppies, and the
artificial flowers were designed so that someone who had lost the use of a
hand could assemble them with one hand – a principle that has endured.
This suggestion led to the foundation of the Poppy Factory at Richmond,
Surrey, in 1922, where poppies are still made today.
Major Howson himself was not convinced that his idea would work. He
wrote to his parents: I have been given a cheque for £2,000 to make
poppies with. It is a large responsibility and will be very difficult. If the
experiment is successful it will be the start of an industry to employ 150
men. I do not think it can be a great success, but it is worth trying. I
consider the attempt ought to be made if only to give the disabled their
chance.
Within a few months the factory was
providing work and an income for
50 disabled veterans. As demand
grew, the premises became too small
and in 1925, the Factory moved to
the current site in Richmond,
Surrey. In the same year the charity
changed its name to the British
Legion Poppy Factory.
Right: photo taken in 1922. Major Howson
is on the front row in the middle.
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In 1926, a similar factory had been built in Scotland by the wife of Earl
Haig, and the Lady Haig Poppy Factory continues to produce poppies,
but with four petal lobes as opposed to the two-lobed poppies made in
Richmond.
The venture that Major Howson believed was less than likely to succeed
became a huge success. However, the volume and intensity of the work
exhausted him and he died in 1933 aged just 50. In recognition of what
he started, the Poppy Factory still sends a special poppy wreath to his
surviving family on the anniversary of his death.
Every November the annual Field of Remembrance at Westminster
Abbey is organised and run by The Poppy Factory. Over 250 plots for
regimental and other associations are laid out in the area between
Westminster Abbey and St. Margaret’s Church. The Remembrance
crosses are provided so that ex-Service men and women, as well as
members of the public, can plant a cross in memory of their fallen
comrades and loved ones. The Field is opened every Thursday before
Remembrance Sunday and stays open until the following Thursday
evening. Major Howson started the Field in 1928 with a few disabled ex-
Service men from The Poppy Factory. They grouped around a
battlefield cross, familiar to those who had served in Flanders and the
Western Front, and with a tray of poppies, invited passers-by to plant a
poppy in the vicinity of the cross.
Across
4 Takeoffs (4-3)
5 Mediocre writers (5)
7 Type of bowling (7)
10 Guide for Wise Men (4)
11 Betrayer (8)
14 The USA has six but China
only one (4,4)
15 A hairy man (4)
17 Set of rules superior to Man's (4,3)
19 King David's father (5)
20 Roman Catholic state (7)
Quick crossword (solution on page 23)
Down
1 Part of a chapter (5)
2 Site west of Nod (4)
3 Hess did time here (7)
5 Twitter word (7)
6 Packed (7)
8 Men of the cloth (7)
9 Small carved Japanese decoration (7)
12 Biblical no-no (3)
13 Showy ornamental shrubs (7)
16 The very end of WWII (1,1,3)
18 Alternative name for Pentecost (4)
9
From the Registers
Baptisms
8th October
Abby Fearn
Hudson Carl Fearn
15th October
Phoebe Brooke Rodmell
Freddie Paul Jonty Farrell
29th October
Alice Valentine Iddon
Funerals
13th October
Anthony Craig Freeman
17th October
Phyllis Crawford
Weddings
1st October
Kirsty Duggan & Christopher Broadbent
Saturday Morning Prayer
On Saturday mornings between 10 and 11, the church will be open for
anyone who would like to join in prayer for our lives as worshipping
communities in the interregnum, for the progress of the appointment
process and for any other matters that are on our hearts.
Please use the side door near the chapel.
Flower News
Harvest is a wonderful time of year for flower arranging, with the glorious,
warm autumnal colours. Once again this year, our Harvest preparations
were made extra special as the decorations for church were to be a joint
enterprise with members of the Sunday School.
In the weeks leading up to 15th October, members of the Sunday School had
been hard at work creating pictures of squirrels and sunflowers, and making
hedgehogs. These were displayed as part of a presentation on the Chancel
steps, with autumn leaves and a vase of sunflowers. In the south porch,
members of Sunday school who had worked with the flower team during the
summer holidays created a glorious display of sunflowers, spray
chrysanthemums, solidago, and garden foliage. Well done to Sunday school
members for all their achievements which were much admired by everyone.
The war memorial had an arrangement of field poppies, autumnal foliage
and hypericum berries. In the Lady chapel, green chrysanthemums, orange
carnations and garden foliage were used for the display. The pedestal in the
Nave was created using bronze chrysanthemums, golden roses, yellow, and
cream carnations, and hypericum berries. The west porch had a simple
display of sunflowers, and an arrangement of sunflowers was placed at the
back of church.
From 22nd October, the displays on the Altar were simple arrangements of
white spray chrysanthemums in brass vases in memory of local soldiers who
took part in the 2nd battle of Passchendaele in October and early November
1917.
On 7th October, members of the flower team went to Manchester cathedral
for a second meeting with other flower arrangers from the Manchester
Diocese. It was good to meet up again, and splendid to welcome four new
faces to the group. We had a positive and friendly meeting, forging links and
a support network across the Manchester area. Tea and cake was enjoyed,
and a short presentation with ideas for dark corners and displays near
radiators was given. Our next meeting is now booked at the cathedral for
Saturday 24th March 2018.
Our next charity flower day on 25th November in support of Fortalice is now
fully booked, but if you would like to be placed on the waiting list, please see
Alison or Kath.
With grateful thanks for donations to the Flower Fund for Harvest and
beyond, and for donations received during October.
Flower team.
11
The Love of the Lord Jesus Draw you to Himself,
The Power of the Lord Jesus strengthen you in service,
The Joy of the Lord Jesus fill your heart,
And the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Be with you now and remain with you now and always.
I’m sure we will be hearing this anthem in the future – either at a baptism during
the Sunday morning service or any occasion when these words would be
appropriate.
Choir member Leslie Iddon’s granddaughter Alice
was baptised in Church on 29th October. Leslie
wrote the anthem “The Love of the Lord Jesus
Draw you to Himself” for the occasion and the
Choir recorded it, so that it could be played during
the service.
A Christening gift to treasure
13
Music list November
Harvest photos
The loaf above was made and donated by a baker contact of Geoffrey Whalley’s.
The photo on the right shows a detail of a mouse that the baker carved into the dough.
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BOLTON PARISH CHURCH
Sunday 14th January at 3.30 p.m.
La Nativité du Seigneur
for organ
Nine Meditations on the Birth of Our Lord
by Olivier Messiaen
played by
NIGEL SPOONER
Admission £6 (conc. £4, under 16s free)
Refreshments available
Car Parking on Church Car Park
A Musical Date for the Diary
On Sunday 14th January at 3.30 p.m. the organist Nigel Spooner, who has
occasionally accompanied our choir (he played when we sang in Southwell
Minster), and who is Organist to Bolton School (Girls’ Division), will perform
La Nativité du Seigneur (The Birth of Our Lord) in church.
This work, written in 1935, consists of a series of nine meditations for organ,
each concentrating on a different aspect of Christ’s birth, for example the
shepherds, the magi, and the angels, the music in each case summoning up the
atmosphere of the scene before us.
Messiaen’s musical language is unusual, combining as it does new elements of
harmony and rhythm, and even birdsong! But there is more to it than new
techniques; as a devout Christian, Messiaen brings to the work an intense
atmosphere of devotion which is quite mesmerising – many commentators
have described the work as a masterpiece, and it is a rare privilege to have it
performed in our own church by such a talented player.
Make a note of the date now – the New Year will come round more quickly
than you think!
MICHAEL PAIN
Contakion for the Departed
At the Remembrance Day service on 12 November, the hauntingly beautiful
Russian Contakion for the Departed will be sung by the Choir during
Communion.
Give rest, O Christ, to thy servants with thy saints, where sorrow and pain
are no more; neither sighing but life everlasting. Thou only art immortal,
the creator and maker of man; and we are mortal, formed of the earth,
and unto earth shall we return; for so thou didst ordain when thou
createdst me, saying: ‘Dust thou art und unto dust shalt thou return’. All
we go down to the dust, and weeping o’er the grave we make our song:
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
Words: Eastern Orthodox Memorial Service; trans. W. J. Birkbeck (1869-
1916). Tune: Kiev Melody
Kontakion (alternative spelling Contakion) is a form of hymn performed in
the Eastern Orthodox Church. Originally, a kontakion was a long, structured
liturgical poem – a sort of sermon in verse. The kontakion comes to us from
fifth or sixth century Constantinople, where popular preachers were well-
known for their festival sermons which recounted in detail the events of a
feast or saint whose day was being kept.
The original kontakia were essentially festival sermons in poetic form, set to
music. They consisted of an initial stanza called a proemium or prelude, and
up to twenty-four additional stanzas or ikoi (oikos, Greek for house), having
the same meter and all ending with the same final line as the proemium.
The proemium served as an introduction, establishing the topic to be
presented. The ikoi developed this topic, sometimes in story form, using
dialog or contrast. The repeated final line served as a refrain, tying the
entire hymn together.
In the Kontakion that will be sung on Remembrance Sunday, the first three
lines are the proemium, with the ikoi starting at “Thou only art immortal…”
Kontakia were sung by skilled soloists, who stood at the ambo – then a
raised pulpit in the middle of the church. Because they were so long,
kontakia were written on scrolls, which were unfurled as they were sung.
The scrolls were wrapped around a pole (kontax) – this is the origin of the
word kontakion.
The Contakion for the Departed was sung during the funeral scene in the film
Doctor Zhivago.
17
Pop-up Pom-pom Prayer Space
One of the latest projects of the Ethos Group at Bishop Bridgeman concerns temporary Prayer Spaces, intended to “pop up” in different parts of the school at different times. A dedicated space which anyone can enter, to pray, reflect or just ‘be’ for a short while. The first of these, the Pom-pom Prayer Space was created for the two day Ethos Conference last July and proved a great attraction, with its theme that every pom-pom turns out unique, just as every human being is created unique and special.
The pom-pom prayer space was replicated in the south aisle in church just before harvest by a little team from BB so that we too could share the experience. Although the sides of the gazebo were open, sitting inside its small space, surrounded by woollen pom-poms and sparkling tea-lights engendered a wonderful feeling of intimacy and tranquillity – of being quiet and still in the presence of God.
Moira
19
Harvey A Crerar
For all your plumbing and
building work
Telephone 01204 669170
Mobile 07759 19 44 78
1B Ansdell Road
Horwich
Bolton
We support Royal School for the Blind, Church Road, Wavertree, LIVERPOOL L15 6TQ
Hand-bell Group
New members are very
welcome to join us – we
meet in church (access via
the south side door) on
Wednesday evenings
between 7 and 8.30pm.
Please consult the pew
sheet for any changes.
Date for the Diary
Family Christmas Party
in the Parish Hall
on Saturday 16th December
at 4 p.m.
All welcome!
21
Conveyancing, wills……..
……...be well advised
ALLANSONS SOLICITORS
01204 363 663
The next issue will be published on
Sunday 3 December 2017.
Deadline for submissions: Friday
1 December
Please send material to the
Editor, Sigrid Clarkson-Pain
(formerly Judy)
Meditation Group
Meetings
Mondays 7.30 p.m. and
Thursdays 2 p.m.
Venue: The Friends’ Meeting
House.
Tea & coffee and biscuits
served after each session.
Please consult the pew sheet
for any changes.
Choir
If you (or someone you know) enjoy
singing and are interested in helping to
maintain the tradition of Anglican
Choral music, you may like to consider
joining the choir. Some ability to read
music is essential.
For 6th-form pupils considering a future
application as a Choral Scholar at
University, the experience of singing in
a choir like this could be invaluable,
and, even if you do not have such high
aspirations, could still prove very
rewarding.
Bolton Choral Union Concert on 5th November, 7.30 p.m. Bolton Choral Union will be performing Fauré’s Messe Basse and Rossini’s Petite Messe Solonelle.
Tickets £10 on the door.
PCC Meeting
The PCC meets on Wednesday 15th November at 7.30 p.m. in the Lower Hall.
23
To advertise in this publication,
contact
or call the Parish Office
on 01204 522226
Church Services at a glance
Sundays 08.00 Holy Communion
10.30 Parish Communion
18.30 Evening Prayer
Tuesdays 12.15 Holy Communion
Thursdays 12.15 Holy Communion
The Church is also normally open on
Tuesday and Thursdays 11.30am-1.30pm.
For Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals,
please contact the Parish Office on 01204
522226.
It was a delight to see our friends
Ruben Angelici and family
(pictured left) at the service on 22nd
October.
Ruben was ordained by the Bishop
of Lincoln in July last year.
Rotary Shoe Box Appeal
Sunday School now has a stock of
the Rotary Shoe Boxes. If you
would like to fill a box or donate
something to go in one, please
ask. We would like to have them
ready to send by early December.
Fame for Bolton’s organ case
If you look up the British Institute for Organ
Studies on the internet (www.bios.org.uk), you
will see a rather familiar organ case on their
home page.
“No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds -
November!”
Thomas Hood, No!
Canon Slade School, Bradshaw Brow BL2 3BP
Headteacher: David Burton
Tel: 01204 333343
Bishop Bridgeman Primary School, Rupert Street BL3 6PY
Headteacher: Jill Pilling
Tel: 01204 333466
Bolton Parish Church Primary School, Kestor Street BL2 2AN
Headteacher: Angela Worthington
Tel: 01204 333433
BOLTON PARISH CHURCH CONTACTS
Parish Church Schools
Vicar:
Lecturer:
Revd Moira Slack
01204 841865
Associate Priest:
Revd Canon Prof. Kenneth Newport 0161 764 4361
Curate:
Authorised Lay
Minister:
Revd Barrie Gaskell
Evelyn F Weston
07512782297
01204 594123
Church Wardens:
Mr John Walsh OBE
Evelyn F Weston
01204 840188
01204 594123
Deputy Wardens:
Mr Graham C Burrows Mr David Eckersley
Mr Alan Forrester Mr Ken G Jones
Mr Andrew J Mitchell Mr David Morlidge
Mr Trevor J Whillas
PCC Secretary:
Mr Graham C Burrows 01942 550404
Treasurer:
Mr Andrew J Mitchell
01204 840633
Director of Music:
Mr Michael Pain
01204 491827
Administration [email protected]
01204 522226